Illuminated display sign



g 1956 G. NELSON ILLUMINATED DISPLAY SIGN 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov 30, 1953- y I JILL Al: AW I I fizz/@2125 Gew g'efismz/ Dec. 4, 1956 NELSON ILLUMINATED DISPLAY SIGN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l'lllll r Filed NOV 30, 1953 fizr/ezzizr" ZCVe/Ilsam W ILLUMTNATED DISPLAY SIGN George Nelson, Chicago, Ill, assignor to Price Brothers, line, Chicago, 111., a corporation of lllinois Application November 30, 1953, Serial No. 395,025

2 Claims. (Cl. 40-130) The invention relates to improvements in portable illuminated display signs.

More specifically the invention is concerned with the novel construction and assembly of a portable illuminated display sign of a character which may be manipulated easily and quickly to gain access to the source of illumination therein contained. The failure to provide for easy access to the source of illumination in signs of this general character has resulted in their display becoming ineffective, or in discontinuance of the use of the sign. in the present disclosure the display sign is characterized by having a relatively wid base, for stability, and an upstanding housing carrying display elements. The housing preferably is fabricated wholly or in part from translucent plastic material so as to be light transmitting. The upstanding housing includes a front wall concealing the base when the sign is viewed from the front and the base and housing are hingedly connected so as to permit the upstanding housing to be swung rearwardly downwardly over the base to expose the lamp tube for easy replacement.

It is therefore, an object of tl e present invention to provide a rugged novelly constructed portable illuminated sign of the character referred to.

Another object is to provide, in an illuminated sign, novel means whereby access may be gained to the interior thereof easily and quickly and without the aid of tools.

Another object is to provide a novel illuminated dis play sign of the character referred to wherein the front and back walls are illuminated by a single source of illumination.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel portable display sign of the character described herein which is ruggedly constructed, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install and service, and very effective in its use.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of my invention, 1 have illustrated in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment thereof, from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with the following description, my invention, its mode of construction, assembly and operation, and many of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated.

Referring to the drawings in which the same characters of reference are employed to indicate corresponding nited States Patent or similar parts throughout the several figures of the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the portable illuminated display sign embodying the features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the illuminated display sign.

Pig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the illuminated display sign.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a view looking at the front of the sign, showing the upstanding housing swung rearwardly downwardly to expose the source of illumination and the in terior of the base.

The sign illustrated in the accompanying drawings includes a base, generally designated at ill, and an up standing housing, generally designated at 12. The base ill is substantially rectangular in shape and may be formed of sheet material such as, sheet metal, to provide a shallow casing including a top wall 13, a bottom wall 114, a back wall 15 and an open front: side. Upon referring to Fig. 4, it will be observed that the top wall 13 is considerably shorter than the bottom wall 14 and that said wall 14- has a forwardly extending portion 16 inclined downwardly forwardly. The casing may be fabricated in any approved manner and, as shown, the bottom wall 14 has end flanges 17 which lie against the inside faces respectively of end flanges l3 depend'sg from the top wall 13. The related overlying end flanges l7 and 1% may be spot-welded, as at 19, to provide an integral structure. Rubber cushions El or other support means may be secured to the bottom of the base 11 to provide means to hold it elevated off of a supporting surface, such as the top of a cash register or counter.

A pair of lamp sockets 22 are permanently secur d in any suitable manner within the base Ill in the area of the downwardly inclined portion lid of its bottom wall 14. These sockets preferably are of a type commonly used for the reception of fluorescent tubes. Such a tube 23 is illustrated in Figs. 4- and 5 and it will be observed that this tube extends substantially the entire width of the base ill in the area of its open front.

The upstanding portion 12 of the display sign includes a frame structure indicated at This frame structure preferably is manufactured from any suitable plastic material colored or otherwise processed so as to be translucent and it preferably includes two sections 24a and 2 th suitably joined together permanently. The section 24a of th frame 2 includes a rim 25' surrounding three sides of an integral panel 26. A panel 27, also of a translucent plastic material is secured over the outside face of the frame panel 26, preferably by a screw The last named panel 27 extends a short distance below the bottom edge of the frame panel 25 and is turned forwardly at an angle, as at 29, for a purpose to be described presently.

The fram portion 24a and the panel 27 mounted thereon, are hingedly secured to the top wall l3 of the base 11. As shown a piano hinge 31 has one of its leaves 32 secured as by rivets 33 to the under face of the base top Wall 13. The other leaf 34 of said hinge extends downwardly and rests snugly against the back face of the panel 27. This hinge leaf, as well as the lower portion of the panel 27, are firmly secured to the frame panel 26 by screws 35.

The front frame portion 24b of the frame 12 includes a surrounding margin 36 which may include a substantially rectangular protuberance 3'7. The rear inside margin of the frame 24!) is suitably recessed to receive seated thereon a transparent panel 3b: in the rear of which is positioned a translucent plastic panel 39. Both of these panels are held firmly in position by clips 41 one of which is located adjacent each side edge thereof and which have their free forward'ends 42' underlying the bottom edges of the panels 38 and 39. A screw 43 firmly secures each clipv 41 in place on the frame 24b.

The substantially rectangular protuberance 37 formed in the frame portion 24b preferably is centrally located midway between the side edges of said frame at its bottom and its lower wall is in substantially the same horizontal plane as the bottoms of the rubber cushions 21 to thereby constitute additional support at the front of the sign. It is proposed to mount within the rectangular protuberance a translucent panel 44. This panel may be retained within a collar 45 which fits snugly into'the rectangular protuberance 37.

Upon referring to Fig. 4 it will be observed that the panel 44 is in line for direct surface illumination by the lamp tube 23. The panels 38 and 39 in the front frame 2412 are located in substantial vertical alignment with the lamp tube 23 and inasmuch as their lower edges are exposed for all practical purposes, said panels are illuminated by edge-glow. The panels 26 and 27 also are illuminated by edge-glow. In this connection, it should be observed that light rays will pass upwardly into the space 46 between the panels 39 and 26 thus affording additional subdued direct illumination. The various panels 26273S39 and 44 may of course be differently colored and of various densities so as to give the manufacturer a wide range of combinations to produce different effects.

As is well understood in this art the illuminated panels are designed to bear any desired indicia such as for example that illustrated in broken lines at 47 on Fig. 2. In order to properly maintain balance of the illuminated display sign described hereinabove which obviously is heavily weighted at its forward end, a suitabl weight 43 may be carried within the base casing 11. The conventional ballast 49 is also contained within the base casing ll preferably closely adjacent to the open front so that easy access may be had thereto should the necessity arise.

As noted hereinabove, when the source of illumination is turned on the outermost panels 38, 27 and the panel 44 will be illuminated with a soft glow illumination and any indicia appearing thereon readily becomes visible. The formation of the frame 24 from plastic material also permits said frame to become slightly illuminated but not to the extent of illumination which occurs in the panels 38, 27, 44.

In the event that the lamp tube 23 burns out, it is a simple matter to obtain access thereto. This is accomplished by swinging the upstanding housing 12 rearwardly downwardly about the hinge 31 into substantially the position illustrated in broken'linesin Fig. 4. When the housing is in that position, the entire open front of the base 11 is exposed, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The lamp tube 23 may then be removed easily and quickly and another one inserted in th sockets 22 whereupon the upstanding housing is returned to its initial substantially vertical position to again close and conceal the base 11. In order to minimize overheating, the base 11 is provided with ventilating openings preferably in the region of the lamp 23. As illustrated a plurality of holes 51 are provided in the forwardly downwardly extending portion 16 of the base bottom wall and if desired the portion of the base bottom wall containing the holes 51 may be removed entirely upon removal of screws 52. In such event the surface upon which the display sign is located is illuminated in the area of the opening and maximum ventilation is afforded.

It is believed that my invention, its mode of construction and assembly, and many of its advantages should be readily understood from the foregoing without further description, and it should also be manifest that while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described for illustrative purposes,.the structural details are nevertheless capable of wide variation within the purview of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. in an illuminated display sign, in combination a hollow horizontally extending base open at its front side and having a top wall and a bottom wall, a lamp mounted in said base in the area of the open front side, a normally vertically extending housing including front and back walls and a bottom wall, said housing having an open lower end, at least one of said housing walls being translucent, hinge means connecting the lower portion of 'the housing back wall to the base top wall in a mann r to permit the housing normally to assume a substantially vertical position while in use and a substantially horizontal position overlying the base during servicing, said housing open lower end registering with the open front side of the base when the housing is in its vertical position to permit illumination of the translucent housing wall.

2. A portable display sign comprising, in combination, a hollow base including top and bottom walls and an open front side, the top wall terminating rearwardly of the forward edge of the bottom wall, a source of illum ination arranged in the open front side forwardly of the forward edge of the top wall, a housing including front and back walls, a hinge connecting the housing back wall to the top wall of the base, the housing front wall normally overlying the open front side of the base to thereby enclose and conceal the source of illumination, a first translucent panel in the lower portion of said front wall adapted to be illuminated by direct horizontal light rays from the source of illumination, a second translucent panel constituting substantially the remainder of the front wall and normally disposed in a vertical plane above the source of illumination, said housing being movable about said hinge downwardly and rearwardly into a substantially horizontal position to expose the source of illumination.

References Cited in the file ofthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,400,296 Kusel Dec. 13, 1921 1,839,287 Wolfson Ian. 5, 1932 1,840,325 McCann Jan. 12, 1932 1,915,511 Banse June 27, 1933 2,090,157 Smith Aug. 17, 1937 2,147,748 Miller Feb. 21, 1939 2,177,641 Evans Oct. 31, 1939 2,239,343 Rumbaugh Apr. 22, 1941 2,284,309 Tschopp May 26, 1942 2,465,034 Peters Mar. 22, 1949 2,525,467 Zelt Oct. 10, 1950 2,634,530 Herschede et al. Apr. 14, 1953 

